Setting Notes
The following is development notation. It is not meant for general consumption and none of the information below is finalized. Nations Avalon A naval empire, chivalrous knights, a coastal metropolis, and a destiny-wrought royalty. Alien fey inhabit enchanted forests; warrior-nobles go to war with kilt and claymore; state-funded battlemages; emerald hills dotted with crumbling castles; a sword with a secret; a beloved young king and his grim advisor; an order of thieves, smugglers, and scoundrels devoted to king and country. Blood Bayou Red-tinged swamps harbor hungry predators, strange curses, and the Carnival. Will-o-wisps illuminate sunken fortresses; stilt towns cling to the sides of massive cypress trees; fungus disease, and disturbing mutations; enormous snapping turtles and alligators rival dragons; swamp witches visit strange curses on unwary explorers; ancient ruined temples covered in runes and moss; red mud and black water; the lights of the Carnival illuminate horribly diseased but inexplicably robust carnies; the masked Laughing Man rules uncontested. Harrowfaust Vampiric nobility play labyrinthine political games in the mountain fog Tiny fiefs ruled from dark castles by darker masters; ignorant, fearful peasants; gypsy caravans and riverboat travelers; isolated mad scientists craft strange devices and horrible monstrosities; ancient ruins and corrupted druid circles; tarot card magic; well-dressed monsters. Iron Principalities Petty remnants of fallen Nerath constantly war with one another. Comprised of many small fiefdoms, each ruled by a backstabbing family of schemers and poisoners; prolific mercenary bands composed of cheap and vicious sellswords; The Black Hand assassins guild; famous vineyards produce blood red wines of world-class vintage; the Drowned City. Razor Islands Lawless islands ruled by pirate captains and disgraced admirals Ruled by the Free Captains’ Council; rum, whores, and the cat-o-nine-tails; sahuagin, deep ones, and merfolk; ghost ships and skeletal pirates; Red Jack’s treasure hoard; wrecking crews, buccaneers, gambling dens; pirates, outlaws, outcasts, and exiled nobility; priesthood of Besmara, the god-queen of pirates. Reaht Last remnant of an ancient, crumbling empire. Legions and phalanx; marble temples and paved roads; olives, cheese, and wine; gladiators and legionnaires; bickering senators and an aging emperor; fading memories of a world-spanning empire; togas and sandals; decadence, scheming, and blood on white marble. The Scar Burned wasteland holding ancient relics and mysterious technological marvels. Tribes of nomadic scavengers; techno-cults and repurposed relics; impact craters hold buried secrets; half-destroyed robots armed with death rays and missile pods; amnesiac androids; alien creatures escaped from long-buried crash sites stalk the ashen dunes; rifle-wielding mutants and desperate addicts drink strange fluids that leak from metallic ruins. Sea of Dust Parched desert inhabited by masked men and dune-striding elves Bone-white limestone ruins hide untold treasures; ancient shipwrecks lay buried in dunes hundreds of miles from the ocean; onion domes and keyhole arches; massive city-crawlers traverse the sands on enormous treads; gauze-wrapped ninja strike without warning before disappearing into sandstorms; bones of titanic creatures peek from the dunes before being reburied by the scouring winds. Volstadt Wealthy, decadent city-state riddled with crime, drugs, and other sins. Ruled by the Machiavellian autocrat Prince Solano; wizards cloistered within a walled academy; rampant crime and gangs of thieves; hedonistic aristocracy that frequents opium dens, brothels, and mystical parlors; constant balls, galas, and other meaningless social events to busy the pointlessly wealthy; the glacial sinking of the city forms an extensive undercity; clergy bitterly compete for the finest temples; the labyrinthine harbor district consists of a spider web of interconnected piers; the Adamantine Tower juts from a city square, its surface smooth and featureless. Weeping Wastes Site of a recent magical catastrophe of epic scale. Battlefields where corpses refuse to decompose; wounds that never heal; natives twisted and deformed by terrible and pervasive magic; living spells roam ruined cities looking for prey; half-functional constructs carrying out orders for dead masters; the Forsaken Legion patrols the borders. Races Core Non-Core 'Catfolk: ' '''Drow: '''Largely identical to Greyhawk drow. '''Goblins: '''Split into gobbes and blin. Gobbes are swampfolk and hillbillies. Blin are mysterious scavengers with a penchant for technology. '''Hobgoblins: '''Default assumptions are correct. Highly-regimented lawful evil society. Heirs to a fallen empire, they still dominate the Steppes of Khalka-Nur. Known across Avas as cruel but highly-skilled slavers. '''Ratfolk: '''Properly ysoki. Desert nomads that live in extended family groups that travel the Sea of Dust and the Scar in enormous caravans centered on an immense beast of burden. Fantasy jawas. Religion Demon Prince based on Glasya (Fiendish Codex II) and the Queen of Blades (Starcraft)